Zuzana Pustaiová, One Day Every Day, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2022, ed. 300

This is a beautifully produced high gloss accordion that feels great in one's hands. However, it's not a straightforward accordion either, as it has a number of folded in fold outs that surprise the reader as you navigate the publication. Speaking about this new book Pustaiová said the larger themes were, "...about stereotypes and everyday life." Indeed, a majority of the photographs in the book depict daily activities and its objects, but usually with some kind of twist as well. But food, bodies and how we look and dress is the structure on which this accordion was constructed. It's a funny, amusing, and surreal sequencing of her cool photographs.

The book is accompanied with an essay by the photography curator, Branislav Stepanek, in which he expands upon the theme of book concluding, "The book could be an authentic testimony of a conformist rebel whose life taught them that any attempt to break the social rules conclusively means they will never fully fit in. It is about a path more difficult, the need to belong and, at the same time, not bending under the pressure of education, social bubbles, media, gender roles and even one's own social beliefs. Someone has truly taken this path. Only time will tell how viable it is."

62 double-sided pages, individually 9.5" x 6.5", 8' 6.5".

slipcover and the accordion

reverse side

back cover

Marco Marzocchi, Oyster, Void, Athens, 2019, ed. 480

This is a really powerful photographic accordion book, with the feel of a family album, in which Marzocchi reckons with the legacy of his upbringing with his parents by splicing together a variety of different types of photographs. Created over ten years the artist states that: 

"This work represents my experience in recovering and understanding my parents, their life and their relationship with me. I never knew them well because they split when I was 6 years old, and they both died young. Drugs, addictions, jail and dysfunctional environment, these were constant elements. This work is focused on dealing with and replacing all the doubts and fears that I had. Exorcising the pain and searching for love."

The snake on the front cover is a reference to the 'Ouroborus', an ancient Egyptian and Greek symbol symbolizing the unity of all things, as well that of rebirth. The pacing of this book, the use of the white space of the page and the careful placement of the photographs, coupled with the varied types of imagery, all seem to be part of the larger work of the book — the creation of a new narrative of Marocchi's relationship with his parents, and the opportunity to move forward towards a more positive future, a rebirth of sorts.

84 single-sided pages, individually 6.5" x 5.25" and when fully opened 36' 9".

back cover